


Volleyball is a Dangerous Sport

by Kateera



Series: All In a Summer [21]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Coming Out, Fluff, Homophobic Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 21:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12284850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kateera/pseuds/Kateera
Summary: Jim and Oswald are enjoying their vacation, but hiding their relationship is wearing on Jim's conscience. One beach ball later and it all comes out.





	Volleyball is a Dangerous Sport

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Prompt, Beach Ball
> 
> Many many thank you's to [thekeyholder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekeyholder), for making these stories flow correctly!
> 
> Check me out on [tumblr](http://kateera.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/kateera_) to say hi and ask questions and flail over Gobblepot.

Morning swims with Oswald were Jim’s favorite thing about vacation. Every so often, among the splashing and swimming, Oswald would dive down and Jim would follow, holding him close and stealing kisses under the waves. He hated that they were forced to drift apart as they came up for air and every kiss brought him closer to the decision to tell his family.

 

_I’m sure Uncle Frank would be fine with it, but mom and Roger, I don’t know. What if they hate me?_

 

Oswald made Jim happy and he wanted his family to be happy for him, but fear clenched his heart when he thought of telling them. Oswald said he understood, that he still loved him, but Jim knew he had to say something soon. For now, he played in the ocean and tried not to think about how many days were left in their vacation.

 

Coming up for air again, Oswald floated away and pointed to the shore. “We should head back. My mother will probably call soon.”

 

“Can’t you just call her back?” Jim asked, swimming closer and running a foot along Oswald’s leg.

 

Oswald shook his head. “She’s particular about the phone.”

 

Jim sighed, but smiled. “Alright, race you!”

 

Diving under the water and kicking hard, Jim swam for the shore but when he reached the shallow water and stood up, Oswald was already drying off and holding his phone.

 

“How do you do that?” Jim asked, grabbing his towel and rubbing at his hair.

 

“I’m streamlined,” Oswald said with a grin.

 

His phone rang and Oswald answered while Jim stuck out his tongue and dried his skin.

 

“Hello, mother,” Oswald said into the phone while he watched Jim dress. “Yes, I’m having fun.”

 

Jim pulled his shirt down and found Oswald smiling at him. “What?”

 

“Mother says hello,” Oswald said with a smirk. “She says if you take advantage of me, she’ll put a curse on you.”

 

Jim turned bright red. “Very funny.” He gave a little wave. “Hi, Ms. Kapelput.”

 

“Jim says hi.” Oswald’s eyes twinkled as he turned back to his conversation. “Of course not, we have life jackets, mother.”

 

Grabbing their towels, Jim tried to shut out the conversation and give Oswald some privacy, but when he caught the sound of Gertrud singing Happy Birthday, he turned around in surprise.

 

“Happy birthday?” He mouthed, raising an eyebrow at Oswald.  

 

Oswald shushed him and returned to his call, saying ‘I love you’ and ‘ goodbye’ while Jim paced. Getting off the phone, Oswald played with his phone while he looked at Jim.

 

"It’s your birthday?" Jim asked, hands on his hips, looking like his mom when she wanted to know who ate the last pudding cup.

 

Oswald shrugged. "Yeah, it's not a big deal.”

 

“Not a big deal?” Jim asked in a loud huff before wincing and lowering his voice. “I’m your boyfriend. I should know when it’s your birthday.”

 

“I'm not particularly fond of surprises, you know,” Oswald said, bringing his knees to his chest. “Birthday’s weren’t the best thing around my house, okay?

 

Oswald’s distress deflated Jim's outrage and he sat next to Oswald on the sand, poking him in the ribs. "Happy birthday. I'm sorry I didn't even think to ask when it was."

 

"It's fine. I never really celebrated it anyway." ,Oswald dropped his head to his knees and sighed. "My mother wanted a big party for my ninth birthday, saved up and everything. She sent me to school with hand-written invites and I handed them out like I was supposed to, but no one came." He shrugged and Jim wanted to go back in time and hit those snobby nine year olds in the teeth. "Mother thought I was being stubborn, that I threw the invites away or something. We ate birthday cake for a week and she never planned another party."

 

"I'm sorry, Oz." Draping his arm around Oswald, Jim rested his head against his shoulder. "You'd have people to come to a party now, though."

 

"You dragging your friends over doesn't count," Oswald said sarcastically, slapping Jim's arm.

 

"Fine, but I'm still sad that you didn't tell me." Jim bumped their heads together and backed away. "I'd have at least planned something for the two of us."

 

"Next year?" Oswald asked, his cheeks pink as he stared out at the ocean.

 

"Next year,” Jim promised. “You better be ready for fun."

 

Oswald grinned, bright and lovely.

 

"Come on, let’s go see what Uncle Frank is up to." Jim jumped to his feet and held out his hands.

 

Oswald let him help him up, squeezing his hand in a stolen moment of intimacy before they joined the others. Watching Oswald brush sand away while he walked sent Jim's blood rushing towards his groin. He stopped and thought about castration and the various curses Gertrude would put on him if he crossed the line, willing his libido away.

 

As they walked along the path, Jim heard laughter coming from behind the house. Giving Oswald a confused look, Jim led them around the large deck to see his mom, Uncle Frank, Roger, and Brett playing volleyball in the backyard. Brett had the ball and was posing like a professional player, a look of serious concentration on his face.

 

"Jim, look." Oswald pulled his attention to a large beach ball sitting on the deck. "I wonder if we could get this over the net from here."

 

Jim smirked and picked up the beach ball, so large that he could barely wrap his arms around it. "Think I can get it to Uncle Frank?"

 

Oswald gave him two thumbs up and Jim grinned, taking aim and tossing the ball into the air. A gust of wind caught it and it veered off course. Jim watched the scene like it was playing in slow motion. Oswald grabbed his arm as the beach ball floated away from Uncle Frank and headed straight for Brett. Oswald's fingers dug into his skin as Brett turned to see what was happening and then Oswald squealed and hid as the ball smacked Brett in the face. Brett screamed and fell into the sand.

 

"Shit." Jim ducked behind the railing but it was too late to hide.

 

Silence fell over the yard as everyone stared at the beach ball bouncing away and then back at Brett. At last, Uncle Frank gave a snort and then laughter filled the air. His mom clutched at her stomach and wiped tears from her eyes.

 

The only one not laughing was Brett, who stood up and dusted himself off, his face red and his eyes blazing. “You did that on purpose, you fucking pansy-ass faries!”

 

The laughter stopped as he stomped towards Jim and Oswald, hands clenched and panting with anger.

 

Roger grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “What did you say?”

 

Brett shook him off and pointed to the porch where Jim stood in front of Oswald. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how gay they are with each other? It’s disgusting.”

 

Jim saw red and ran down the stairs, Oswald right behind him, but Roger balled up his fist and punched Brett right in the nose. He fell to the sand with a cry of pain, clutching his broken nose while blood dripped down his face.

 

“You don’t get to talk about my brother that way,” Roger said, his fists clenched as he stood over Brett.

 

“I think you should leave my house, now.” Uncle Frank’s soft, threatening tone made Jim take a step back towards the deck, bumping into Oswald who steadied him with a hand to his hip.

 

“See?” Brett said, his voice muffled from his hand on his face. “They’re fucking fairies. I was right.”

 

“Get the fuck out before I punch you again,” Roger said, taking a step towards him.

 

Brett scampered across the sand, grabbing his shoes and running into the house before Roger could get any closer. Uncle Frank clapped Roger on the back and Laura gave him a hug.

 

Jim took a deep breath and looked at Oswald. “I think we should tell them.”

 

“It’s up to you,” Oswald said with a kind smile. “I’ll follow your lead.”

 

Jim nodded and faced his family, grabbing Oswald’s hand for support and then his whole arm while everyone turned to where they stood.

 

“Thank you, Roger,” Jim said, hating how his voice was shaking.

 

Roger nodded, tilting his head and squinting his eyes at how close Jim and Oswald were standing. He didn’t say anything, and Jim cursed his brother for choosing this moment to not be a loud mouth.

 

Taking another breath, Jim let it out in a rush as he spoke. “Oswald and I are dating, though, that’s true.”

 

His mom frowned in confusion and walked towards the porch. “I don’t understand. I’ve only seen you date girls.”

 

“I know, I like girls and boys, mom,” Jim said, swallowing as Uncle Frank and Roger moved closer as well. “I didn’t think I did, but then I met Oswald, and well, I love him.”

 

Uncle Frank slipped his shoes on and walked to the steps, gathering Jim up in a tight hug. He held on, tears gathering in his eyes as his mom joined in on the hug and Roger patted him on the back.

 

“We aren’t going to judge you for who you date,” Roger said with a sniff, looking at Oswald out of the corner of his eye. “I’m more concerned with the caliber of said boy or girl.”

 

Jim backed away and punched Roger in the chest, hard enough to knock him back a step. “He’s with me, Roger. You get points for breaking Brett’s nose, but I’m tired of the snarky comments about Oswald.” The tears spilled out of his eyes as he talked and Oswald’s arms wrapped around his waist while he glared at Roger. “He’s my best friend, my boyfriend, and I love him, so be nice!”

 

“It’s okay, Jim,” Oswald said, smirking at Roger. “I’ll give him that one for the way Brett turned into a tomato.”

 

Laura laughed and Uncle Frank snorted again.

 

“I’m glad that asshole is gone. He tried to talk to me about investing in some company called See Light.” Frank shuddered and punched Roger in the arm. “Next time, find a better friend.”

 

Roger shrugged. “We weren’t really close. I’ll be glad to cite him for homophobia at work.”

 

Jim laughed and coughed and wrapped his arms around Oswald, burying his face in his shoulder. He cried while his mom rubbed his back and Oswald pressed kisses to his forehead.

 

“Honey, it’s okay,” Laura said, moving her other arm around Oswald and hugging them both. “You’re both okay.”

 

Jim nodded and hugged her tight, reining in his tears as he straightened. “I’m just-I was so scared.”

 

“Hey, no shame in being scared,” Uncle Frank said, clapping him on the shoulder. “But we still love you, no matter what.”

 

“Plus, the way that ball smacked him in the face was priceless,” Roger added, clutching at his face in a reenactment of the incident.

 

Laughter filled the porch and Jim basked in the love of his family and Oswald and no one mentioned the sound of a car spewing gravel as Brett sped away.

 

“Who wants lunch?” Uncle Frank asked, rubbing his stomach with a pained expression on his face.

 

Oswald and Jim jumped up and he chuckled. “Alright, lunch first and then you can decide which one of you is moving into the bedroom down the hall.”

 

Jim groaned while Oswald laughed and pulled him into another hug, whispering, “At least we still have the ocean.”

 

Jim grinned and nodded, his heart so full, it seemed like it would burst from his chest. Giving Oswald a soft kiss in front of his entire family, Jim felt light and happy and he was glad of Oswald’s arms around his shoulders, keeping him from floating away.

 


End file.
